20210816 INCORRIGIBLE SINNERS WE ARE
16 August, 2021, Monday, 20th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Judges 2:11-19 © |
The Lord appoints judges to rescue the men of Israel
The sons of Israel did what displeases the Lord, and served the Baals. They deserted the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from the gods of the peoples round them. They bowed down to these; they provoked the Lord; they deserted the Lord to serve Baal and Astarte. Then the Lord’s anger flamed out against Israel. He handed them over to pillagers who plundered them; he delivered them to the enemies surrounding them, and they were not able to resist them. In every warlike venture, the hand of the Lord was there to foil them, as the Lord had warned, as the Lord had sworn to them. Thus he reduced them to dire distress.
Then the Lord appointed judges for them, and rescued the men of Israel from the hands of their plunderers. But they would not listen to their judges. They prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed down before these. Very quickly they left the path their ancestors had trodden in obedience to the orders of the Lord; they did not follow their example. When the Lord appointed judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and rescued them from the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived, for the Lord felt pity for them as they groaned under the iron grip of their oppressors. But once the judge was dead, they relapsed and behaved even worse than their ancestors. They followed other gods; they served them and bowed before them, and would not give up the practices and stubborn ways of their ancestors at all.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 105(106):34-37,39-40,43-44 © |
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
They failed to destroy the peoples
as the Lord had given command,
but instead they mingled with the nations
and learned to act as they did.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
They worshipped the idols of the nations
and these became a snare to entrap them.
They even offered their own sons
and their daughters in sacrifice to demons.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
So they defiled themselves by their deeds
and broke their marriage bond with the Lord
till his anger blazed against his people;
he was filled with horror at his chosen ones.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
Time after time he rescued them,
but in their malice they dared to defy him.
In spite of this he paid heed to their distress,
so often as he heard their cry.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:24 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt5:3 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 19:16-22 © |
If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own
There was a man who came to Jesus and asked, ‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said, ‘Which?’ ‘These:’ Jesus replied ‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness. Honour your father and mother,and: you must love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’ Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
INCORRIGIBLE SINNERS WE ARE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Jdg 2:11-19; Ps 106:34-37,39-40,43-44; Mt 19:16-22]
The history of Israel was a history of infidelity. It was not just during the time of the Judges but throughout its history since the Exodus. The sins of rebellion and idolatry were repeated right until Jesus’ time. Indeed, history will keep repeating itself. The author captures for us a summary of this history. “The Lord appointed judges for them, and rescued the men of Israel from the hands of their plunderers. But they would not listen to their judges. They prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed down before these. Very quickly they left the path their ancestors had trodden in obedience to the orders of the Lord; they did not follow their example. When the Lord appointed judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and rescued them from the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived, for the Lord felt pity for them as they groaned under the iron grip of their oppressors. But once the judge was dead, they relapsed and behaved even worse than their ancestors. They followed other gods; they served them and bowed before them, and would not give up the practices and stubborn ways of their ancestors at all.”
Israel never learnt her lesson. The generations that followed kept repeating the sins of their forefathers. From the time of Adam and Eve until today, the sins of disobedience, pride and egoism were repeated anew at every generation. We too, whether as a nation, a people, or as individuals, we never learnt from the history of our forefathers. We have little perception and foresight. We continue the same mistakes of rejecting God and relying on ourselves when we are strong and prosperous. This is what is happening in the world today. We have made great advancements in science and technology, so much so that humanity is repeating the Tower of Babel. We want to find happiness and fulfilment in life without God. We think reason and knowledge can help us to attain lasting happiness. This is the new idolatry of our day, the worship of science, technology and reason.
Indeed, the emphasis from Joshua to the last book of Kings was on the religious reason for the failure of the kingdom of Israel. It demonstrates the truth of what the Lord had foretold to Moses, “Soon you will lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst, the gods of the land into which they are going; they will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them. My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them.” (Dt 31:16f) Kings rose and fell because they were disobedient to God. As leaders who were godless or disobedient to the covenant, they could only lead their people down the slippery road, causing the people to be worldly, selfish, proud and lacking moral values of justice and integrity.
The decadence of a people or a nation always begins with complacency and self-sufficiency. When the country or an individual becomes rich, powerful, famous or successful, they think the world of themselves. Their ego and pride consume them, making them intolerant of others, despising those who are unable to make progress, or they use their power to oppress, manipulate and cheat those who are weak. They rely on their power and wealth, thinking that these will be sufficient to sustain them and provide them security and a good life. They are deceived by their wealth in all forms, whether money, talents, resources and assets. This explains why the world is in this situation. People are enchanted by their knowledge that they think they know what is best. Not only do they not need God, they do not need anyone to tell them what is right or wrong. We know what is good and best for ourselves. The arrogance of humanity is seen so clearly in the way the poor, the marginalized and the weak are treated. This is why we are living in a very confused, fragmented and divided world where agreement is impossible.
Yet, whilst it is true that we are forgetful of what the Lord has done for us and for our forefathers and hence we keep falling back to sin, for most of us, we are not always as wilful as the Israelites. The punishment of Israel was harsh because they apostatized against the Lord. They freely rejected the God whom they believed to be true. Instead, they chose the false gods, deliberately going against their conscience and their beliefs. They wanted things their way. God had no other way to bring them back except by punishing them. “Then the Lord’s anger flamed out against Israel. He handed them over to pillages who plundered them; he delivered them to the enemies surrounding them, and they were not able to resist them. Thus he reduced them to dire distress.”
For most of us, perhaps we are not always wilful in disobeying God but we are just too weak to resist sin and the temptations of the world. The real problem is not the world, the devil or our human flesh that cause us to sin. It is easy to blame these sources of temptations. But our free will is weakened only because we have slackened in our relationship with God. We do not place Him as the centre of our lives. We compromise Him with our desire for the world, fame, power, glory, status and pleasure. We are not sincere in loving God with all our heart, soul and mind.
Indeed, it is our attachments to this world, the Baal and Astarte, that blind us to the truth about ourselves. This was the case of the rich man in the gospel. He perceived himself to be a good man. He had this presumptuous perfect assessment of himself. Yet he could not understand why he was feeling incomplete. He asked our Lord, “Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?” The Lord first reminded him that God alone is the source of goodness and good deeds. Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good. There is one alone who is good.”
Then He added, “But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” It is significant that Jesus did not mention the first three commandments which refer to the worship of God alone. Instead, the Lord listed the rest of the commandments that focus on his relationship with his fellowmen, concluding with “Honour your father and mother, and: You must love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?'” The truth is that he did not keep the commandments perfectly. It is significant that Jesus changed the order of the commandments that deal with our relationship with our fellowmen. He could have, under the guise of giving everything to God, failed to take care of his own parents. Hence, Jesus charged him to love his neighbour as himself. Only then could he be considered to have fulfilled the commandments perfectly.
But how could he be certain that he has put the love of God and his fellowmen above himself? The Lord said to him, “‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.'” The sign that he has overcome his attachment to self, to his own security and self-interests is when he has given all to God and to the poor, and attached himself only to the Lord, following Him. But clearly, he could not, as he came to recognize his true attachment, which was not in serving God and keeping His commandments perfectly but himself. Hence, he went away sad. He decided against God knowingly. But in his disobedience, his saving grace was that he was aware that he was choosing himself over God. He still had a chance to be saved and find fullness of life by following Christ. What is more devious is that some of us pretend to be obedient to the Lord and keeping His commandments when in fact we are merely rationalizing our actions by justifying that we are keeping the spirit of the laws. Peter and the apostles fell into this category, for later on they would ask the Lord, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” (Mt 19:27) They lacked self-awareness.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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